Cavity-Nesting Birds of North American Forests / Agriculture Handbook 511

by Virgil E. Scott; Keith E. Evans; David R. Patton; Charles P. Stone

Plain titmouse

Parus inornatus

L 5″

Habitat: Oak and pinyon-juniper woodlands from 5,000 to 7,000 feet elevation from Oregon south and west to Texas and New Mexico are the favored habitat of the plain titmouse.

Nest: Plain titmice usually nest in natural cavities or old woodpecker holes. Most reported nests have been in oaks, 2 to 23 feet above ground (Bent 1946). Nest boxes are used when available (Wetmore 1964).

Food: Beal (Bent 1946) examined the contents of 76 stomachs and found 43 percent animal material (true bugs 12 percent, caterpillars 11 percent, beetles 7 percent, ants and wasps 6 percent, daddy longlegs and grasshoppers 5 percent, spiders 1 percent, and 1 percent unreported) and 57 percent vegetable matter (cherries and pulp of larger fruit and leaf galls 32 percent, seeds of poison oak and weeds 25 percent).